May 27, 2008 By Ron Paglia For The 3 min read

Growing up in Filbert and surrounding communities did have its benefits, the best of which, Brad Rechichar emphasizes, was bringing the former Barbara Porterfield into his life. “We met at her 16th birthday party at her home,” Rechichar said of the woman who has been his wife for 35 years. “I was lucky enough to be invited and it turned into the biggest moment of my life.”

Brad and Barbara, the daughter of Bill and “Din” Porterfield of Thompson, are the parents of four children. Bradley Jr., 35, lives in Uniontown and is an electrician; Scott, 33, who works in a call center, also calls Uniontown home; Kelly, 28, is a credit union loan officer and she and her husband, Andy Mallin, reside in Chandler, AZ, and Ryan, 27, and his wife Karen live in San Angelo, Texas, where he is a city fireman.

The Rechichars also have two grandchildren.

Bradley’s daughter Briauna is 18, lives with Brad and Barbara in Mesa and will graduate from high school in May.

Kelly’s daughter Zoey was born on Christmas Day in 2007.

Barbara is retired from AT&T.

Adding to Brad Rechichar’s bond to Fayette County are three brothers and two sisters. Bruce and his wife, the former Janine Famularo, live in Adah, Barry in Republic, Joe in Filbert Heights, Beth Duranko in Washington, and Becky and her husband, Jim Kollar, in Uniontown.

Barbara, also a Brownsville High graduate, has two sisters and a brother living in the area – Renee Hajdu and her husband Gary of Daisytown, Robyn Simms of Hiller, and Darrell Porterfield and his wife Linda of Dilliner. Another brother, Brian Porterfield, is deceased.

In addition to his large family in the region, Rechichar also keeps in touch with longtime friends.

“Joe Knupsky, Phil Bartolotti and Andy Kavulic are still my best friends and live in the Brownsville area or Pittsburgh,” Rechichar said. “They also were on the football team, but more in my mold of athleticism.”

The Rechichars were home in August and attended the annual Brownsville Community Day at Kennywood Park.

They hope to return in May for their nephew’s wedding.

“My brother Bruce’s son Craig is marrying Phil Bartolotti’s daughter Monica,” Rechichar said. “Talk about a small world.”

Rechichar said his parents were the primary role models in his life.

“My mother was a homemaker and sometime wedding caterer,” he said, poignantly. “Most important, she was a loving mother and devoted wife. I took the compassion and work ethic from my mother and striving for perfection from my father and have always tried to emulate them.”

Those qualities possessed by his parents and others in the area are very meaningful to Rechichar.

“The biggest asset people from the Mon Valley have is their work ethic,” he said. “It’s been rather disappointing to see that doesn’t exist in other parts of the country.”

Chuck Abramski also had a strong influence as Rechichar’s high school football coach.

“Anyone who played for him will tell you the same thing,” Rechichar said.

“He truly cared for and about his players and went out of his way to help them in ways that transcended the football field.”

Rechichar said his proudest achievement in life has been “our family and being married to a wonderful woman for all these years.”